Gremlin Greta Puppet Restoration

Restoration of a Gremlin Greta Puppet

In the original Gremlins film all of the gremlins and mogwais were asexual, that is until Gremlins 2 when Greta was introduced. This gremlin Greta puppet was used as a paint test to help Rick Baker’s team to finalize her glamorous look for the film.

Although the puppet wasn’t used on film she was made out of the same polyfoam and foam latex materials that all of the other gremlin puppets were and so over time areas of the puppet had become fragile and “crispy”. She had some areas that were missing and she also came with a handful of pieces that needed to be reattached. Greta, did have one thing going for her that most of the Gremlins movie prop puppets that we restored did not. Since she was a paint test, she had a rigid foam core, which was the perfect support system for all of the new repairs.

Prop restoration artist Maria Teran began the process by repairing the areas on Greta’s neck and the back of her head. The missing areas were so large that these repairs helped secure the surrounding material. Maria had to carefully match the look and texture of the surrounding original material so that once painted the repairs would become virtually invisible. Once all of the repairs were complete Greta was handed to Melissa Ocampo for paint work.

Melissa not only had to recreate the paint scheme of the rest of the puppet, but she also had to touch up Greta’s “oh so glamorous make up” too! The restoration is definitely a team effort and if one of the parts is not spot on you will be able to tell where the repairs are.

Greta was also missing her eyes, so Maria created a completely custom pair of hand painted eyes. To finish off the display we created a black laminate base with a custom designed and printed metal plaque.